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After calling the hospital without luck and finding no response to the locator she had on her phone, Jenna went back to the Beast. Think. Knowing Kane, he’d have been riding fast. If he’d swerved to miss an animal, there would be evidence where the Harley left the blacktop. If he’d been knocked from the motorcycle, it could have traveled some ways on its own before coming to rest where she found it. She walked back to the Harley and searched all around. The soil was moist and impact marks where the vehicle had slid sideways were evident. Although she found no signs of footprints or marks to indicate Kane was riding the Harley when it hit the trees. Fear mounting for Kane’s safety, she walked slowly following the tire marks back to the blacktop, stopped and called again.
Nothing.
Refusing to fall to pieces in front of Tauri, she called Blackhawk. Whatever happened here, she needed expert eyes to scan the area. After explaining, she heaved a sigh of relief to discover Blackhawk was close by on the edge of town. “I’ll wait here for you and keep searching.”
“I’m on my way. Tell Duke to search for him, Jenna. He’ll find him if he’s there.” Blackhawk blew out a long sigh. “Dave is very resourceful, if he can walk, he’ll be heading home. Do you have spare phones at home?”
Cold blasted through Jenna’s clothes, sending chills over her flesh, but she kept walking along the blacktop, searching each side as she talked. “Yeah, satellite phones and spares. If he’s there, he’ll call. He’ll know I’ve taken the Beast to go look for him.” She turned and ran back to the Beast to get Duke. Not wanting to leave Tauri alone, she’d left Duke with him. “I’ll go and get Duke. He’s with Tauri in the truck.”
“I’m turning off the highway now. I’ll see you very soon.” Blackhawk disconnected.
Jenna unclipped Duke’s harness and helped him down from the truck. She looked at Tauri. “We need to hunt for Daddy in case he’s hurt.” She unclipped Tauri from his car seat and lifted him down. Taking him with her might be a problem if something bad had happened to Kane. She took his hand and, pulling Kane’s woolen cap from between the front seats, held it out to Duke. “Seek, Duke. Where’s Dave?”
Duke moved along the highway, crossing from one side to the other with his nose to the ground and tail out straight like a rudder. They’d walked at least fifty yards before Duke barked and turned in circles looking at her. She picked up Tauri and ran to the dog. Heart racing, she stared all around. Setting Tauri on his feet, she smiled at him. “Stand here on the grass and don’t move. Uncle Shane and Atohi will be along soon, and I don’t want you on the road, okay?”
“I’ll wait right here.” Tauri stepped away from the road and stood with one hand resting on the trunk of a tree.
Trembling, Jenna patted Duke and held Kane’s hat in front of his nose again. “Show me.”
Duke moved off slowly, nose to the ground. He walked another ten yards and barked. Jenna ran to him and searched the blacktop. Panic gripped her at the sight of blood. The next moment, Duke walked off again heading for the trees. Keeping close behind him, Jenna noticed the crushed vegetation and then to her horror, Kane’s helmet in the bushes. One side was dented and her stomach cramped. Frantic, she turned searching all around. “Duke, seek. Where is he?” She cupped her mouth, “Dave, Dave where are you?”
Nothing.
When Duke walked back to the road, barked, and sat down, everything fell horribly into place. She swallowed hard and pushed her trembling fingers into her pockets. This had the markings of a setup. The only way to take down Kane would be to render him unconscious. He never left the house unarmed and she’d seen him take down six men with his bare hands. Teeth chattering, she pulled out her phone and called Wolfe. “This looks like a setup. Dave’s been kidnapped.”
“No one could take him alive, Jenna.” Wolfe sounded serious. “He must be around somewhere. Have you tracked him with Duke?”
Shivering as the cold seeped into her clothes, she nodded. “Yeah, Duke tracked him. We found his helmet, but he just vanishes in the middle of the road. His helmet is damaged, Shane, and there’s blood on the blacktop. He must be hurt bad.” She sucked in a deep, freezing breath. “He’s gone.”
NINE
Shane Wolfe followed Blackhawk’s truck along the backroad and parked behind him at the sight of Jenna waving frantically on the side of the road. If Kane had been kidnapped, it was a serious issue and would mean his cover as Dave Kane had been compromised. It had been over five years since Kane had arrived in Black Rock Falls and all had been well. Even with the media blasting his face all over, neither Kane nor Jenna would be recognized by anyone from their pasts, so the idea that anyone had kidnapped Kane for the bounty on his head seemed remote. He’d hold off before notifying POTUS but he could bring in Carter, not by giving him any of Kane’s secrets, but for a simple kidnapping for whatever other reason someone might have for taking Kane, Carter would be a great help.
He climbed from his van and went to Jenna. “Let Blackhawk take a look around. He’ll see things we can’t.”
“What happened?” Blackhawk walked toward them and stared at the helmet in Jenna’s hand. “Did he wreck his Harley?”
“It’s not that simple.” Jenna’s face had drained of color and she was shivering. “There’s blood on the road and Duke can’t find him.”
“I’ll go and see.” Blackhawk turned to Tauri and held out his hand. “Come with me. We’ll go and look for signs.”
As Blackhawk moved out of earshot, Wolfe bent to speak to Jenna. “If there was any noise mentioning Kane, I’d have heard something. If anyone had kidnapped him for the bounty, they’d be crowing all over the media. I’ll need to be sure this isn’t a local incident before I call in the big guns, and once we do that, your life here is over. If Kane is rescued, he’ll be shipped out and you’ll never see him again. They’ll give him a new handler and nothing I say or do will prevent this from happening. POTUS will protect his asset no matter the cost.”
“What the hell do you plan to do? Nothing?” Jenna let out a sob. “I can’t just carry on as if nothing has happened. Dave could be dying or being tortured. I’m not sitting around and hoping he’ll be able to get himself out of the situation.”
Wolfe took her by the arms and gave her a little shake. “Right now, you have no choice. If I report it, all they’ll do is wait and listen to the scuttlebutt. They’ll never admit he is one of ours. Dave knows this and is prepared for the outcome. There might be a demand for his release, as in money or an exchange of political prisoners. In the meantime, if the bad guys have him, y’all know Dave will be tortured. He’s taken down more sadistic regime leaders than I can risk telling you about. Many people want a piece of him. You must prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario.” He stared into her tear-filled eyes. “God willing, this is a local matter and someone from his past here in Black Rock Falls is seeking revenge. If it is, then they’ll soon discover messing with him is a big mistake.”
“If he’s badly injured, he won’t be able to escape or fight them, Shane.” Jenna stared at the helmet. “Look at this, he’s hit his head on the same side as the metal plate. It must be killing him. We must find him.” She looked over one shoulder as Blackhawk came out of the forest leading Tauri by the hand.
“There’s something here you need to see.” Blackhawk pointed to a tree.
Wolfe squeezed Jenna’s arm and they went to peer at the trunk of a thick pine. “What have you found?”
“A metal cable was tied around this tree and the one opposite. It broke.” He pointed to the shredded wire. “Someone knew Kane rode here at this time and stretched it across the road. When Kane drove by at high speed, the cable would have lifted him off his motorcycle. I’d say the blood is where he hit the road, maybe he rolled a few times before hitting a tree. I found evidence that his helmet struck a tree. There’s paint on the trunk and wood scraping.”
“If he was alive, he wouldn’t have removed his helmet.” Jenna stared at Wolfe and then examined the helmet. “The strap is fine and it’s not damaged inside. He’d have kept it on to keep his head warm. He never goes out in cold weather without covering the plate in his head.”
“Duke, as you said, stopped searching in the middle of the road.” Blackhawk walked along the blacktop and stopped. He pointed at a chalk mark circle. “This is where Duke stopped and there is a drop of blood here. So Dave isn’t bleeding heavily.”
